We Don't Eat
by Something Illusory
Summary: —3x08 DE scene as it should of went— She finds his gaze and holds it, voice cracking as she chokes out, "It won't be because he loves me…it'll be because he loves you."


The house was quiet. Elena thought herself as the last to get to bed in the Gilbert household. She yawned, exiting her bathroom. It seemed as though sleep was about to consume her any second. _Better get to bed_, she thought tiredly.

Just as she reached over to flick off the bathroom light, something in her bed caught her eye. She would have jumped if she didn't expect it. And to be honest…she kind of did. "Ugh, Damon, seriously?" she huffed. Couldn't he let her sleep for _one _night? This was his thing, she decided. To purposely visit her bedroom late at night and deprive her of her rest. How many times had he done it now?

Damon had been lounging across her bed at ease. You wouldn't exactly know it from looking at him, but the desire for Elena was strong. He had flopped downward onto the bed only to be hit with the comforting scent of her filling his nostrils. And the sight of her now, in her thin tank top and pants…..

He smiled slightly and raised his eyebrows. "We got Mikael."

"What? How?" she asked almost incredulously.

"No idea. I guess Katherine came through." He offers, quite shocked that Katherine really _did _come through_. _He silently wondered what the bitch was plotting. "The plan's in motion." He says slowly, watching her take in his words.

She blinks, not exactly believe everything he is feeding her. Wow. She simply cannot believe that a plan to get Stefan back might work. A strange burst of excitement rushes through her.

He notices her facial expressions. "See," he points out and runs his tongue over his lips quickly. "Told you I had it."

She almost rolls her eyes at how cocky he is. He just couldn't be wrong for once, could he? So she tilts her head now to look at him tiredly.

He runs a quick look over her. "Go ahead, kick, yell, scream - I'm sure you've been plotting your rant all day."

Now she _does _roll her eyes. "I'm not going to yell at you." Her tone is tired. She clearly isn't in the mood to argue with Damon. She walks forward to pull back the sheets of her bed.

"Why not?" he asks lightly, as if the very thought of her yelling amused him. Knowing Damon, it probably would have. "I went behind your back. Freed Stefan. And you know what? It backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever, which means now.." he smiles crookedly. "He's a dick that's on our side."

"I'm not mad." she says irritatingly. "I'm tired. I just…I want to go to bed." Her eyelids flutter slightly. They are heavy. It's happening..it's consuming her.

Damon simply turns his head and ignores her. She begins to tug on the sheets his is laying on top of. This causes him amusement and he does his best to pretend like he doesn't know. "You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake, cause he mentioned something about it.."

Frustrated, Elena snaps, "Then they must of carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down."

Damon smiles and peeks at her from the corner of his eye. "So I was right." She looks away. Why was he so determined to annoy her tonight? What was his problem?

Finally giving in, she throws the blankets on top of him and climbs into her bed. _Screw it, he's not moving. _she scowls to herself. While she reaches over to pull them back over her, he mocks, "After all that, the wall led us to Mikael."

She gets comfortable, staring up at her ceiling. "It let us do more than just that. I think I got Rebekah on our side too."

"Really?" he asks skeptically and sounding…impressed. "What'd you learn from her?"

Elena shrugs. "I learned that she's just a girl." She looks over at him, staring at his soft face. "That…she lost her mom too young and…" She takes a deep, steady breath before continuing. "She loves blindly, and recklessly, _even _if it consumes her."

She stares off for a moment and discovers that she is not simply describing what she had learned about Rebekah. Somewhere, Elena describes herself. She describes the pain and emotional loss she felt from losing her parents. And after everything anyone has ever done to her, she still finds the will to love. Even when she cannot control what it is exactly she is loving.

She glances over at Damon, who seems to have already picked up on the path her thoughts were. For a second she wonders if he'll say anything about it. She turns over on her side and slides a hand under her pillow, cheek resting upon it gently. "And when all is said and done…there's nothing more important than the bond of family." She stares into his blue eyes while saying this because she knows that he will relate to it as well.

And he does. He turns over as the position she is in and sighs, rolling his eyes. "You should tell that to my brother."

They both laugh lightly: two kind, silly sounds that merge into one blissful noise. Then she studies him, his face, and knows that he's hurting. "I'm not mad at you for letting him out, Damon.."

He keeps her gaze before she decides to roll over and shut off the lamp. She turns back over to face him, except this time she is closer than before. "I think that you're gonna be the one to save him from himself." She says genuinely.

He stares at her silently. She wonders what is going through his head. Little does she know it's about how she's the most beautiful girl he's ever seen.

She finds his gaze and holds it, voice cracking as she chokes out, "It won't be because he loves me…it'll be because he loves you." And then she realizes that it wasn't Elena that he loved to the ends of the earth. It was his brother. He had given up everything to save his brother, not her. Damon was, and would always be, number one in his heart. How could she compete with that? She couldn't.

Damon blinks, unsure of what to say. Unsure how to comprehend what she was saying to him.

She yawns then leans closer to him, closing her eyes peacefully. But she doesn't fall asleep because falling asleep would mean leaving him. And she doesn't want to leave him. Not now. Not ever. He looks at her, eyes full of love and face filled with compassion. Here in the dark everything is so quiet and mysterious. It is only them. Only his raging love for her and her scolding attraction towards him.

"I'll get him home to you, Elena." Damon whispers, and when she doesn't react, he can't be sure if she even heard him or not. But then she confirms it because a few minutes later she says,

"He's yours. He's always belonged to you."

It is a sweet, innocent sentence, and yet he can't help himself from reaching over and stroking her cheek with his thumb. She is so fragile. A butterfly caught in the mouth of a crow. Yet the crow protects it because the butterfly is magnificent and beautiful. It doesn't harm the butterfly. It doesn't kill the butterfly.

Her eyelids flutter open at his touch and she sighs deeply and contently. "I'm drifting to sleep. I'm sorry," she breaths.

His lips pull up at the corners. "It's okay."

He moves the slightest and she quickly blurts out in a long whisper, "Will you stay?"

To lay with her? The ..whole night? His eyes close in the slightest and he replies, "If you want me to." Very delicately she reaches to her face and takes his hand, holding it in hers. She pulls their tangled fists to her warm chest, over her heart. He doesn't know if she's sleeping yet and simply unaware, of if she is doing it genuinely. Feeling her soft skin and her beating heart beneath said skin, he decides that he doesn't exactly care.

"I do." she manages out before her body falls limp and she drifts into peaceful unconsciousness knowing that her protector is by her side.

**Authors Note: Thank you so much for reading! If I spelled Mikeal wrong, please just let it go. Everyone seems to spell it differently.**


End file.
